Not sure if I believe in God. Makes me feel so uneasy

[doyouknowhim]

Not being sure either way

I have questions I've never got an answer to

Such as that I get this life is temporary, if you believe in God, Christ, etc. As you'll have everlasting life if granted it

I asked this and was given an answer along the lines with 'the person with cancer will suffer now. That's true. Some people will meet horrific ends. But, it's like looking back at something awful and thinking 'I thought at the time I'd never get through it'. And there you are, in eternal heaven. So I get that... if I leave out the bit where surely you wouldn't want your creation to suffer at all if you love them and had the power to stop it, since you do because you're a benevolent God

But anyway, I also struggle to think that someone good can go to hell. There's a woman I know with a disabled child. She has terminal cancer and will die. She's been given an awful hand as it's not just the cancer, it's the devastating impact on her disabled child's life. It's all horrific when she explains who isn't there for him, the care system, etc etc

Why does someone so lovely deserve HELL? I get Jesus is wonderful and the saviour, but why not forgive these people for their lack of belief? Surely if you loved them as much as you're suppose to, they can come into heaven because you can't stand to know an innocent person like that is damned to hell?

I just don't get those parts. And that's before being gay is immoral. I don't understand it probably because I see no issue with it, you can't switch off being gay

So, what are you suppose to do then? Just live a lie? Have awful self hatred because of it? Sounds unhealthy to me

I'd appreciate any responses from non believes and believers

The only reason I am on the fence is because I FEEL in my heart that Jesus is real. I can't think about his face and deny him. So this makes it all the more harder

Which then leads me to think I'm brainwashed

I just don't KNOW

That's very much a matter of opinion.
There's no contemporary written evidence whatsoever.

www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/14/what-is-the-historical-evidence-that-jesus-christ-lived-and-died

This is an article I found on the subject

Psssst, none of it's real.

I would love to believe in god, but I'm scientific in my approach to life and therefore can't really believe in any of it if it's not scientifically possible.

Faith is when you don't KNOW but you have faith.

A clergyman struggled with the idea of an all-powerful God who could wave his/her hand and fix things for us all. He concluded that God is not a god of power but a god of the power of love. I hope I have got that correct.

I believe that a historian called Josephus said that Jesus lived.

I have supposed to myself 'What if the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were all written by the same hoaxer? Why would someone do that? If they were, wasn't there a good impulse behind it all?'

Are there forces of love and hate in the world?

I find it hard to believe in a God when I see so much suffering in the world.

I do feel the church brings a good sense of community and reflection. Sometimes attending mass can be a quiet time to think and I often come out looking at things from a different perspective, from a kinder perspective. I do think there is value in it.

However religion has brought so much war to this world and religion has brought suffering to many people in so many different ways.

I am an atheist, most of my family are. I don’t have faith. I understand some people do. That’s about it, and I really don’t spend any time worrying about it.

Well I suppose Christian's and Muslims too (can't think of another religion who believe in heaven/paradise as a given for believers), that you won't feel bored of it or fed up

That's the whole point. You won't have any of these human style qualities such as tiredness, hunger, being bored, anger, etc etc

So you wouldn't feel those things anyway. But of course if you did, yes you might wish you could've closed your eyes for the last time and that's it

As an on the fence Christian (not sure I can use that term!) I feel the same

But then remember they're the same person/entity because of the father, the son, etc

It's all the Holy Spirit

Even if that's true, sure sounds better than a burning hell surely?

No, I actually imagine him to look Israeli/Palestinian

Dark olive skin, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, etc

But it's not what I was meaning when I said I picture him. I don't mean that I think of a painting of him

All this fire and brimstone - no wonder you’re full of angst. Much easier to think it’s all twaddle.

And do people believe in hell nowadays? Even people I know that have faith, don’t believe in hell.

The fear of a so called hell is designed to keep people compliant.

Fsr more comforting to know I'll not have the consciousness to care when my body has worn itself out and ceased to function.

It's exhausting! I feel like if I choose to not believe and make peace with that, that I can't actually make peace with my decision

This happened to me a while back but I was a then Christian and thought I was being called to see Islam for the truth

Videos kept popping up, I remember asking God to show me a sign if Islam is the right way. The next thing I know, my bag fell off the pram and a Muslim couple rushed to help me

I was then really wondering if that was my sign and I chose to ignore it.

Then came the agonising worry of, if I choose the wrong religious oath, I'm damned for eternity in hell.

So, it's very complex for me and something that I can't seem to get to grips with - largely because even devout atheists will tell you there's no actual guarantee God doesn't exist

So I always think, if I'm wrong and he does exist, and I chose to ignore these signs, I will regret it for all eternity in pain and suffering in hell

Writing all that out makes me feel like I need therapy now I'm a normal person usually, promise!

What kind of people do you believe will go to burn in hell then? It frightens me (I was a Catholic growing up) but part of me thinks that anyone who commits a murder (for example) can't be in their right mind, so why should they burn for all eternity? They were probably born a psychopath, which they had no control over, or something terrible has happened to them to turn them into a murderer. Even the worst crimes can't justify eternal hellfire, can they?

@Thmssngvwlsrnd I agree with you.

But a lot of Christian's will say that isn't for us to decide what's okay for hell or not with our own moral compass

We don't set the rules

Jewish faith, for example, teaches that we can't possibly get to know Gods thinking because we aren't God or able to think like him. A bit like training a monkey basic maths skills. It can be done, but they'll never understand algebra. That sort of thing

We don't have the capacity for it is what I've been told previously

None of religion makes sense. It’s all made-up mumbo jumbo. If there is some alternative dimension, there’s no reason why it should correlate to the rather convoluted and specific ideas people have come up with.

People believe because they WANT to believe. If you ever have an argument with a religious person, after long hours they always end up by saying “well, you’ve just got to have faith”.

I don’t want to believe so I don’t. I don’t find the idea at all comforting. I find the idea of meeting people I know in heaven spooky and unpleasant. Will my mother be frozen in her eighties? If I lost a baby, would they be stuck with the brain of a baby for eternity? And all the pleasures I have in life are linked to the physical - a cup of tea after a long walk, hugging people, or doing an excellent shit. What pleasure could there be in disembodied floating?

I prefer the idea of simply switching off into nothingness. That happened to me once when I had an anaesthetic and it was fine. Finally just let everything go.

I’m interested in why the fact that you might not believe makes you feel uneasy. It’s your choice, isn’t it?

That does make me think you’ve been brainwashed. Someone’s told you you have to believe.

This explains my thoughts on it perfectly.

I can't get my head around the point of this God who either has no power or doesn't care about people. And who demands to be worshipped.

Honestly, when people in real life start talking to me about God it sounds like they've taken leave of rational thought.

Bit convenient though isn’t it to say “discard the Old Testament” so the almighty god made a mistake with his first book did he but oh keep the good bits because they are good lol you have basically just said that some prayers don’t get answered either because people don’t have a proper relationship with god so that’s why and no I wouldn’t blame the family or upbringing on one child turning bad unless that family had purposely created that child knowing that it was going to be bad, god supposedly created everyone knowing exactly what each single person was going to do because he is all knowing isn’t he? It baffles me that people still believe in a god tbh but when you frame it like you have I can totally see why, good things happen = god, bad things happen = us pesky sinful humans!! If god was proven to be absolutely true I would not worship someone so angry, jealous and vengeful and the whole “believe in me” otherwise burn in hell forever it’s your choice lol oooh so not really a choice then is it because who in their right mind would choose hell. The whole thing is absurd and I think the sooner humans are able to accept death as a part of life rather than be fearful of it then there would be no need for ridiculous comforting stories about an afterlife where everything is perfect. We are born, we live our life some of it is utterly shit and unfair and some of it is good if we are lucky and then we die.

I was raised by devout believers and I believe in God. However, we are poles apart in what that means even in the same family. I believe in the power of prayer for the strength it brings the individual to deal with their struggles, possibly as a form of meditation, as a way of focusing the mind, and as an act of kindness. I don’t believe God is up there answering prayers with specific interventions any more than I believe in Father Christmas bringing bicycles but I am touched when people say they pray for me or my family. I appreciate the thought and the endeavour on our behalf. I respect the strength and focus of their belief. Some people are snide about prayer as magical thinking but I don’t see it that way.

To me, Jesus, as described in the Gospels, was a great man and I admire his strength, courage, and desire to improve the world for the people who needed it most.

I doubt Jesus gave a hoot if people were gay. It would be so inconsistent with his overall attitude. I am a big believer in not judging lest I be judged. Solid wisdom, which makes the world a better place. My elderly father has said the same. He was raised in a fire and brimstone sort of church, and to believe being gay was a sin - he no longer does. He believes as I do, that if people do no harm, regardless of who they love or what they believe, how can they be damned?

You don’t need religion to lead a good life and do the right thing but it does teach some great lessons on how to make the world a better place - by acting charitably, with forgiveness, not continually being concerned first and foremost with our own comfort, advancement and importance. Doing unto others makes the world a better place on a minute-by-minute basis; I apply it daily while driving, and hope (mostly in vain) for the Butterfly Effect🤣

So while I do not know if God is real, and I do not know if Jesus was the son of God or a man with a message (and a gifted deliverer of that message) I know I’m glad to have heard it.

I think that if I was to find out God was real, I would do nothing differently. It’s not being motivated by fear of eternal reward or punishment, for me, it’s knowing what I need to do to not be a total asshole and trying my best. It doesn’t always go well and I’ve made mistakes and done things I don’t really fancy explaining if there is some sort of heavenly audit, but that’s being a human, and erring is one of our top skills.

I don’t think we need God to live a good life, my proof is that there are plenty of atheists with strong moral codes and plenty of believers who trample others. But for me, He’s helped.

I no longer believe in God. I see religion as a means to control people and give an excuse for subjugating populations.
I was brought up CofE, sent to a very strict RC school and had religion jammed down my throat.
Some of the most unpleasant, hypocritical people I have ever had the misfortune to meet have been very religious.

Your uncertainty is very normal. I’m one of the weirdos who grew up in an atheistic family and what’s more at uni age had a ch

Oh ffs